Harry Newton Graves (1877-1957)

Harry Newton Graves was born April 4, 1877, in La Vernia, Texas,
east of San Antonio. His family moved to Georgetown in 1884, where
Newton attended school and got a job as a printer's devil at the
Georgetown Democrat when he was just twelve years old. He
saved enough money to attend Southwestern University, and worked
his way through school as a typesetter, pressman, and assistant
editor for the Williamson County Sun. He also worked as a
stenographer in the law office of Robert A. John and read law at
night with John's assistance. He was admitted to the bar in 1896 at
the age of nineteen.

Graves practiced law briefly in Sherman before returning to
Georgetown, where he was elected city attorney in 1898. He served
three terms as Georgetown city attorney and three terms as
Williamson County attorney. He established a law practice with D.W.
Wilcox, who became his brother-in-law when Graves married in 1908;
the two practiced together for some thirty-five years. Graves
assisted Dan Moody in the prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan in the
1920s; these cases attracted national notoriety, sparked violence,
and required great courage on the part of prosecutors.

Graves served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1927 to
1937, chairing the committee that studied the state's
administrative reorganization and advocated reforms; this committee
became known as the Graves Committee. He also wrote the bill that
established the Texas Highway Patrol and several oil and gas
conservation bills, and was an active Prohibitionist.

Graves resigned from the Legislature in 1937 to accept an
appointment to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals following the
death of O.S. Lattimore. He was subsequently elected to the
position and served on the court until January 1, 1955, when he
retired due to poor health. From 1951 until his retirement he
served as the court's presiding judge. Graves was described in an
Austin American editorial as dignified, fair, and
courageous.

Harry N. Graves died at his home in Georgetown on December 3,
1957 after suffering a heart attack while on a hunting trip. He was
buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.